1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for providing a cut around the anus of an animal to free the rectum from a carcass suspended from both its back feet. Furthermore, the invention relates to an apparatus for carrying out said method.
On slaughter lines the carcasses of the animals are normally conveyed along the line suspended from their back feet. Animal slaughter lines have been established with many partially automatized functions. After scalding and removal of the outer layer of skin by means of hair shoving, black-singing and scraping, the animals are opened. One of the first stages of the opening is to free the rectum at the anus. The rectum is connected to the skin and should be cut free in such a way that it is not damaged. For this purpose a cut is performed by means of a knife around the rectum.
2. Description of the Related Art
On slaughter lines this cutting may take place manually, but as it is a very labor demanding operation, automatic devices for the operation have been proposed. A device of this kind is known from EP-A-258 939 and comprises a positioning element to be inserted into the anus by a movement in the lengthwise direction of the positioning element. The cutting operation is performed by a cutting element disposed concentrically around the positioning element and displaceable in the direction of its axis of rotation. In the known apparatus, the carcass is supported during the advancing of the positioning element by means of a supporting bracket with a fork acting as a fixation for the carcass during the cutting operation. The known device has no means for adjusting the position of the positioning element for adjust to individual differences of the carcasses. This will exclude a totally automatic operation of the device.